(Note: You can click on any image of an artist's work to view it in dialogue mode)
Mother Tongue is an ongoing interactive community visual dialogue. It began in 1991 between two artists in Holyoke MA and has since grown to be a national project including more than 158 artists, students, and community members who have created over 350 works, in response to each other in dialogue. The artwork takes the form of 1'x4' horizontal panels ranging from traditional paintings, to multimedia assemblage and low-relief sculptures. The exhibition is dynamic -- changing its arrangement between, and sometimes during, shows -- reflecting the fluid nature of the visual conversation.
The dialogue is initiated by an exhibition curated from the original inventory of 300 images, which acts as a stimulus for new responses. New participants can enter the Mother Tongue project in various ways. Galleries, museums and schools have sponsored the exhibition offering studio workshops, classes or work stations at the exhibit site to encourage visitors to engage with the exchange by creating a new work that responds to the images, ideas, materials or subject matter that they observe. This new work may be used as the basis of a local dialogue branch of Mother Tongue if there is a local sponsor who wishes to carry it forward. Through photographs, new panels will be added to the original Mother Tongue electronic inventory, maintaining its dynamic nature and becoming part of the evolving history of the entire conversation.
Please explore this dynamic website to experience the visual dialogue. For anyone interested in hosting the Mother Project or wanting more information, contact Mary Bernstein at mmm01002@yahoo.com
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